Don Imus - suspended

[the_idle_threat]

I agree that slavery was unjust and disgusting, but it was also 140 years ago. Nodody is alive today who was either a victim or an oppressor in that whole affair. There has to be some kind of statute of limitations on victimhood.

Furthermore, if you study American immigration and population history, you find that a large majority of the ancestors of today's white Americans came to the U.S. in the immigration boom between the 1860s and the 1920s. Even if a person were responsible for the acts of his or her ancestors (which I don't believe, btw), the ancestors of most white Americans in this country had nothing to do with American slavery. My Irish ancestors were busy fleeing the English, and my German ancestors were likely fleeing a combination of anti-Catholic govermental policies and economic depression. They all arrived in the 1870s-1880s.

So while I understand that something awful happened many years ago to a large group of people, I'm very ready to lose sight of it. The past can't be changed; the oppressors are all dead; many white Americans aren't even descendants of the oppressors; it's way past time to move on.

I do understand your point...maybe we'll just have to disagree. Actually, if you and I sat down and had a brewski we may very well agree. I'm not an ultra-liberal in any sense of the word. Not even close. I just understand some of the increased sensitivity on some things....systematic racism existed out in the open just 40 some years ago, not 140. I 100% agree, however, that sometimes it's just used as an excuse. A total cop out by some people and groups. Listen to Bill Cosby, one of my favorite public people. He realizes there's a sort of victim dynamic going on. I COMPLETELY agreee it's time to move on....but a part of me still can't comprehend how friggen horrific the crimes this county commited against an entire race of people. I know, it's best if we get over it, but it isn't easy, that's for sure.

I like to think we'd agree more than disagree here. I don't beleive people need to "get over" poor treatment that is ongoing. They just need to pick their battles. The slavery battle is over, and it's time to move on from that one. Otherwise, I don't see how race relations can improve. Just my opinion, of course.

[Mazzin]

The girls of that basketball team are acting like they have never had anything racist happen to them in their life. I'm sure that there is a HOE of the team, and I'm sure she CHOOSES to get around, so no one is making her be a hoe, and on top of that I'm sure the girls have called eachother worse names in the locker room....oh but wait I forgot about that old double standard, African Americans can call eachother pretty much whatever they want, and they aren't offended. " Hey my N*****?" said by a black male to another black male, and it's "all good", BUT why would you choose to use a word to call yourself, or another person of your race that is supposedly totally offensive.

Also what about all the rappers, I have heard MUCH worse stuff said in alot of my boyfriends rap songs that are WAY more degrading to African American women. Talking about bitch this, ho that, fuck this, GD that, I'm a pimp, and I mack these ho's...I mean, has Al Sharpton (who really is just trying so hard to be the next Martin Luther King Jr. and I'm sure there will never be.) asked snoop doggs' letter of resignation? I mean why the double standard? Its okay for ANY rapper to do it, but let some old guy do it, and "oh you need to meet with revernd Sharpton...WTF?

Also about the double standard, George Jefferson of the Jeffersons, callled us whites "honkeys, and crackers" for YEARS! Did white american complain about being offended? Most certaintly not, we took it in stride. We don't complain still, I really just dont get these double standards.

Suspension is fine, getting fired is bogus....his ratings will speak for themselves when more people tune out, so why not just let it wether away like you know it will (his career). Hell even Charles Barkley said two days ago, that he thinks an apology is all thats needed, and thats comming from a man who said " I hate white people" and at the time it wasn't even this big of a deal! Either way, just my 2 cents sorry for the long drawn out thing, I'm now stepping off my soap box!

[MJZiggy]

So what you're telling us is that out of 10 women on full scholarship to a good university, one of them MUST be a ho??? What an interesting theory...one of them CHOOSES to get around, and you're so sure of this why?

I agree about rap lyrics, but as was said before, you can lay some of that on the parents and people like your boyfriend who purchase and support that kind of crap. They put lyric warnings on CD packaging so people know ahead of time the content that they are buying. And why aren't YOU personally offended that he listens to music that is so degrading to women?

The "George Jefferson" double standard exists because George was taking shots at the class of people that holds the power in this country (even moreso when he did it). That actually makes a huge difference as his language is not seen as trying to opress anyone because he doesn't have the power to do it.

I think it is the prerogative of the network to choose what they feel is acceptable to air on their stations. If they feel he went too far, it it well within their rights to can him, just like when any other representative of a company does something the company feels is embarrassing to their reputation. That's the way it goes.

[pacfan]

For Idle:

I agree that using the past to justify or legitimize failures in the present is a just wrong. I know people who use "victim-hood" as a rationalization for why they can't succeed (its always somebody elses fault). My point is that you can't just wipe away the bad things that have happen in this country just because nobody is alive that is connected or suffering from it. You should take pride in your heritage being the Mic/Kraut that you are. Slavery was a abhorrent disgrace for this country. But this country also fought and sacrificed to bring an end to slavery.

Mazzin:

Your statement about the women on the team being a "ho" is probably worse than Imus's statement, IMHO. Why even make that claim, do you know them. Have you had enough contact with women athletes to make that judgement?

Imus and free speech:

He exercised his right to free speech when he said his comments and this is the result of it. CBS and his sponsors exercised their rights as a business corporation in terminating their association with him. Is it wrong? Imus opened himself up to criticism for the comment, which I thought was pretty stupid.

and heres a question for you...who invented the word "nigger".

[retailguy]

Well, Imus has been fired by CBS. Can't say i'm surprised. Not sure it was warranted.

Interesting to see who will pick him up.

Well, this is what all the "influential" black leaders wanted. Of course it wasn't warranted.

Tyrone - This is REALITY.

You, as an African American man could call me anything you wanted and no harm, criticisim, or retribution will come to you.

I, as a Caucausian man, can't call you ANYTHING, else I'll be labeled a "biggot" at a minumum, and a racist. I'll be fired immediately from my job, and excoriated in the press, and on TV.

This is "RACISM" in 2007. Kinda sad when you think about it, huh?

[pacfan]

Well, Imus has been fired by CBS. Can't say i'm surprised. Not sure it was warranted.

Interesting to see who will pick him up.

Well, this is what all the "influential" black leaders wanted. Of course it wasn't warranted.

Tyrone - This is REALITY.

You, as an African American man could call me anything you wanted and no harm, criticisim, or retribution will come to you.

I, as a Caucausian man, can't call you ANYTHING, else I'll be labeled a "biggot" at a minumum, and a racist. I'll be fired immediately from my job, and excoriated in the press, and on TV.

This is "RACISM" in 2007. Kinda sad when you think about it, huh?

prove it.

[Kiwon]

Imus isn’t the real bad guy

Instead of wasting time on irrelevant shock jock, black leaders need to be fighting a growing gangster culture.

By JASON WHITLOCK - Columnist

Thank you, Don Imus. You’ve given us (black people) an excuse to avoid our real problem.

You’ve given Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still the most important fight in our push for true economic and social equality.

You’ve given Vivian Stringer and Rutgers the chance to hold a nationally televised recruiting celebration expertly disguised as a news conference to respond to your poor attempt at humor.

Thank you, Don Imus. You extended Black History Month to April, and we can once again wallow in victimhood, protest like it’s 1965 and delude ourselves into believing that fixing your hatred is more necessary than eradicating our self-hatred.

The bigots win again.

While we’re fixated on a bad joke cracked by an irrelevant, bad shock jock, I’m sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgers basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50 Cent’s or Snoop Dogg’s or Young Jeezy’s latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and hos.

I ain’t saying Jesse, Al and Vivian are gold-diggas, but they don’t have the heart to mount a legitimate campaign against the real black-folk killas.

It is us. At this time, we are our own worst enemies. We have allowed our youths to buy into a culture (hip hop) that has been perverted, corrupted and overtaken by prison culture. The music, attitude and behavior expressed in this culture is anti-black, anti-education, demeaning, self-destructive, pro-drug dealing and violent.

Rather than confront this heinous enemy from within, we sit back and wait for someone like Imus to have a slip of the tongue and make the mistake of repeating the things we say about ourselves.

It’s embarrassing. Dave Chappelle was offered $50 million to make racially insensitive jokes about black and white people on TV. He was hailed as a genius. Black comedians routinely crack jokes about white and black people, and we all laugh out loud.

I’m no Don Imus apologist. He and his tiny companion Mike Lupica blasted me after I fell out with ESPN. Imus is a hack.

But, in my view, he didn’t do anything outside the norm for shock jocks and comedians. He also offered an apology. That should’ve been the end of this whole affair. Instead, it’s only the beginning. It’s an opportunity for Stringer, Jackson and Sharpton to step on victim platforms and elevate themselves and their agenda$.

I watched the Rutgers news conference and was ashamed.

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke for eight minutes in 1963 at the March on Washington. At the time, black people could be lynched and denied fundamental rights with little thought. With the comments of a talk-show host most of her players had never heard of before last week serving as her excuse, Vivian Stringer rambled on for 30 minutes about the amazing season her team had.

Somehow, we’re supposed to believe that the comments of a man with virtually no connection to the sports world ruined Rutgers’ wonderful season. Had a broadcaster with credibility and a platform in the sports world uttered the words Imus did, I could understand a level of outrage.

But an hourlong press conference over a man who has already apologized, already been suspended and is already insignificant is just plain intellectually dishonest. This is opportunism. This is a distraction.

In the grand scheme, Don Imus is no threat to us in general and no threat to black women in particular. If his words are so powerful and so destructive and must be rebuked so forcefully, then what should we do about the idiot rappers on BET, MTV and every black-owned radio station in the country who use words much more powerful and much more destructive?

I don’t listen or watch Imus’ show regularly. Has he at any point glorified selling crack cocaine to black women? Has he celebrated black men shooting each other randomly? Has he suggested in any way that it’s cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and a parent? Does he tell his listeners that they’re suckers for pursuing education and that they’re selling out their race if they do?

When Imus does any of that, call me and I’ll get upset. Until then, he is what he is — a washed-up shock jock who is very easy to ignore when you’re not looking to be made a victim.

No. We all know where the real battleground is. We know that the gangsta rappers and their followers in the athletic world have far bigger platforms to negatively define us than some old white man with a bad radio show. There’s no money and lots of danger in that battle, so Jesse and Al are going to sit it out.

[mraynrand]

[quote="Rastak"]

A black sports columnist speaks up

It's more than just Imus

April 12, 2007

I was hoping 10 young women, who have nothing on the line, who are members of a young culture, would train their attention to within the race, name names and say enough is enough. But they didn't, and I was crushed.

You should walk around the playground and the elementary and high schools today and listen to how young black people speak to each other, treat each other and tease each other. You'd be ashamed. Next, sample some of their CDs and look at the video games they're playing. And while you're at it, blame yourself for funding this garbage, for allowing your kids to support these companies and for not taking a stand against it or the so-called artists making it happen.

Black folks, for whatever reason, can be their own worst enemy. The last several days, the media had us believe it was Don Imus. But deep down, we know better.

How could this black columnist assume what black kids have for CDs? Maybe they have gospel music or Gwen Stafani. The fact that he didn't even mention a female rapper must disqualify his judgment. Maybe he's a racist against his own race?

It sounds to me like he's referring to what he's seen with his own eyes. Not what ALL kids listen to perhaps.

Missed the satire? Compare what this columnist wrote to what I wrote about what my kids and their friends have on their ipods and what i predicted the Rutgers Girls might have on their iPods - and my satire with the response of our resident moral relativist, Ty bigguns.

Zig,

as far as what mazzin is saying, I would bet good money she's right - at the very least the girls on the team have been exposed to the 'dark side' of the hip hip culture. You have to believe at least that much. My kids go to schools that are about 70% black, and even the younger ones hear the lingo in 4th and 5th grade - from both white and black boys, mostly, but some girls too. In college I dated a basketball player and a vollyball player. That was a few years back, but I can tell you that the girls team culture is a little bit more crude than your average collection of college kids. let me stress, NONE OF THIS EXCUSES IMUS. The point is about this is the saturation of the culture with this crap, and the general impact it has on kids. It isn't positive and if we can use the Imus thing as motivation to 'back away from the edge' so to speak of cultural depravity, then perhaps it's a good thing.

[retailguy]

Well, Imus has been fired by CBS. Can't say i'm surprised. Not sure it was warranted.

Interesting to see who will pick him up.

Well, this is what all the "influential" black leaders wanted. Of course it wasn't warranted.

Tyrone - This is REALITY.

You, as an African American man could call me anything you wanted and no harm, criticisim, or retribution will come to you.

I, as a Caucausian man, can't call you ANYTHING, else I'll be labeled a "biggot" at a minumum, and a racist. I'll be fired immediately from my job, and excoriated in the press, and on TV.

This is "RACISM" in 2007. Kinda sad when you think about it, huh?

prove it.

I guess this is where I say "prove it isn't true".

Name the last black radio DJ fired for dissing white people? Name the last black rap music star that was denegrated and called a racist for his hateful song lyrics? It just doesn't happen, Pacfan. There is no "equivalent" to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton in any other race of people that run around talking about how "unfair" life is.

Reality, an african american can use the "n" word with another african american and it's "funny" or some kind of "badge of honor"(that I'll never understand). If the word is that bad, shouldn't it be bad no matter WHO uses it? It seems to be bad, only when caucasian people use it.

[mraynrand]

Well, Imus has been fired by CBS. Can't say i'm surprised. Not sure it was warranted.

Interesting to see who will pick him up.

Well, this is what all the "influential" black leaders wanted. Of course it wasn't warranted.

Tyrone - This is REALITY.

You, as an African American man could call me anything you wanted and no harm, criticisim, or retribution will come to you.

I, as a Caucausian man, can't call you ANYTHING, else I'll be labeled a "biggot" at a minumum, and a racist. I'll be fired immediately from my job, and excoriated in the press, and on TV.

This is "RACISM" in 2007. Kinda sad when you think about it, huh?

prove it.

Retail,

I think Pacfan wanted to see you get fired, excoriated in the press and on TV. I have a hard time seeing the Koolaid guy running aroung calling people the 'n' word. OH YEAH!

[Partial]

I actually agree with RG on this one. People claim racism, I say open your eyes and read the newspaper. Blacks rip on us all the time and get jobs over me simply because they are black. Reverse racism exists more than standard racism today.

I would say sexual orientation is a much more sensitive subject and bigger problem than racism.

[retailguy]

Retail,

I think Pacfan wanted to see you get fired, excoriated in the press and on TV. I have a hard time seeing the Koolaid guy running aroung calling people the 'n' word. OH YEAH!

Well, these days, I'd like to think I'm a little smarter than Don Imus.

What he said was STUPID. There is no denying that. He is 66. He knows better. You can't defend that. Do you fire him for it? No. Let the market decide. You quit listening to him and let his show get canceled because of poor ratings. THEN, he can't get another job. Now, he'll be Howard Stern, Jr on Satellite radio, and nothing happens. The medium just moves...

Partial - I wasn't trying to say Racism is not a problem. I was saying that things are being labeled as "racism" that aren't racism.

You seem to be preaching "tolerance". "Tolerance" of lifestyles is a different animal than race issues. Understand the parallel that you're making but I don't think it works.

[mraynrand]

I actually agree with RG on this one. People claim racism, I say open your eyes and read the newspaper. Blacks rip on us all the time and get jobs over me simply because they are black. Reverse racism exists more than standard racism today.

I would say sexual orientation is a much more sensitive subject and bigger problem than racism.

You may be right about sexula orientation. Ever notice that the symbol for Volvo (which suspiciously sounds like 'vulva') is the biological symbol for a Male? Talk about confused






And what about Toyota?



Either it's a Weeble with a halo or a turd in a toilet, or ????

[pacfan]

Well, Imus has been fired by CBS. Can't say i'm surprised. Not sure it was warranted.

Interesting to see who will pick him up.

Well, this is what all the "influential" black leaders wanted. Of course it wasn't warranted.

Tyrone - This is REALITY.

You, as an African American man could call me anything you wanted and no harm, criticisim, or retribution will come to you.

I, as a Caucausian man, can't call you ANYTHING, else I'll be labeled a "biggot" at a minumum, and a racist. I'll be fired immediately from my job, and excoriated in the press, and on TV.

This is "RACISM" in 2007. Kinda sad when you think about it, huh?

prove it.

Retail,

I think Pacfan wanted to see you get fired, excoriated in the press and on TV. I have a hard time seeing the Koolaid guy running aroung calling people the 'n' word. OH YEAH!

Yeah, thats it. Kool-aid for wimps and non-believers

[Partial]

I actually agree with RG on this one. People claim racism, I say open your eyes and read the newspaper. Blacks rip on us all the time and get jobs over me simply because they are black. Reverse racism exists more than standard racism today.

I would say sexual orientation is a much more sensitive subject and bigger problem than racism.

You may be right about sexula orientation. Ever notice that the symbol for Volvo (which suspiciously sounds like 'vulva') is the biological symbol for a Male? Talk about confused






And what about Toyota?



Either it's a Weeble with a halo or a turd in a toilet, or ????